Bob (Michael Peña) and Terry (Alexander Skarsgård) are cops. But given that their motto is, “Let’s go f*@! some scumbags!” I think you can imagine how closely they choose to follow the letter of the law. I mean, they could arrest you, but on the other hand that’s a very nice widescreen TV you’ve got there…
Of course, the problem with blackmailing and beating up bad guys is that sooner or later one of them will work for a bigger bad guy, who might not take kindly to anyone interfering with their nefarious doings. Without meaning to, it’s not long before Terry and Bob are tangled up in far more than they first imagined…
I went into War On Everyone expecting daft and a little ‘outrageous’ fun, and I think that’s exactly what I got. I was quite surprised, then, to see the outpouring of hate for the movie from various reviewers! Sure, it’s foul-mouthed and full of random and bloody violence. Yes, it’s incredibly un-politically correct. But hey – it’s also really funny, which is kind of the point!
The two leads are clearly having an absolute ball, and it shows: Peña as the smart family man, Skarsgard the Glen Campbell-obsessed singleton who might have drunk most of his brain cells away. But rather than the usual buddy cop movie cliche of the pair being ever at odds, they are instead the closest of friends, sharing an outlook on life being there for the grabbing, and willing to stick up for each other despite their antics getting them into increasing bother.
The rest of the cast are also good, from Paul Ritter as the police chief who has to tell them off but really doesn’t care that much, to a wonderfully off the wall performance from Caleb Landry Jones (weirdly reminding me of Sigourney Weaver, in appearance, and perhaps David Bowie in wardrobe!) as one of the bad guys. Main baddie, Theo James, is rather bland in comparison, but kudos to the director for the five minute shot of his bare torso walking towards the camera. For no real purpose, but it does balance out the scenes in the strip club, somewhat 😉
The tone is perhaps a little uneven – it’s practically slapstick at the beginning, and really quite dark by the end – but if you enjoyed Seven Psychopaths (2012), In Bruges (2008) (confusingly, both directly by Martin McDonagh, as opposed to War On Everyone‘s John Michael McDonagh – whose back catalogue is no predictor of this one at all!), or The Nice Guys (2016) and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), then this might find a similar funny spot in you.
Released: 7th October 2016
Viewed: 14th October 2016
Running time: 98 minutes
Rated: 15 (and pushing it!)
My rating: 7/10 – f’ed up to heck, but my twisted sense of humour liked it!
